Mail-separating device for pigeonholes.



W. MANN.

' MAIL SEPAR ATING DEVICE FOR PIGEONHOLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2!, I9l6. 1,2% 5. Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEEI l.

mr NnRRls PEYERS co.. FNDTU LITNOU \vAsmm; R294, 12 c W. MANN.

MAIL SEPARATING DEVICE FOR PIGEONHOLES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 21, 1916.

1,220,525. Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WILLIAM IVIANN, 0F BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY.

MAIL-SEPARATING DEVICE FDR PIGEONHOLES.

- Application filed July 21, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be .it known that I, VZILLIAM MANN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful llIail-Separating Device for Pigeonholes; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved mail separating device for pigeonholes of a letter carriers desk.

In the postal service of the Post Office Department, there are differentclasses of mail matter, and to promptly and accurately deliver the mail,the same is assorted, and in this connection a series of pigeon holes isused, in any one of which one class of mail matter is arranged, andinanother another class is arranged and so on throughout the series ofholes, and then the matter is subsequently removed and tied together indifferent bundles. Very often the mail matter that is arranged in eachhole or division is sub-assorted or sub-divided, and the aim of thisinvention is to provide means whereby the mail matter in each hole maybe sub-divided or sub-assorted.

At the present time there is employed a very crude sub-dividing device,which consists of a' flat elongated board having wire arms extendinginto the pigeon holes for sub-dividing the same, and which device hasbeen found impractical, because the Wire arms are continually becomingdetached. Moreover, this kind of device when removed is in the wayaround the letter carriers desk, and Very frequently becomes lost ormisplaced.

Another aim of this invention is to provide a permanently attachedsub-dividing device, and when the sub-dividing members are not needed,they may be thrown under the horizontal divisional members orpartitions.

A further object of the invention is to improve and render morepractical the mail separating device for pigeon holes, set forth,illustrated and claimed in the co-pending application of William Mann,filed May 3, 1916, Serial Number 95,207.

To improve and render more practical said mail separating device in theaforesaid application, it is the aim to provide a Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2'7, 1917.

Serial No. 110,550.

member in the rear of each pigeonhole, to limit the mail matter in itsinsertion, that is when the sub-dividing devices are used, and whichmember may be thrown backwardly out of position, when the sub-dividingdevices are not used.

A further aim of the invention is to provide means for actuating thelimiting or abutment members and the separating devices simultaneously,and a further aim of the invention is to employ said members as meansfor throwing the mail matter partially forward so that the mail mattermay be easily grasped.

In practical fields, the details of construction may necessitatealterations falling within the scope of what is claimed.

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, ashereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings Figure l is a view in front elevation of a lettercarriers pigeon hole cabinet, showing the mail separating orsub-dividing devices, as applied thereto, and the mail limiting members.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the cabinet, showing the means for actuatingsaid separating or subdividing devices and said mail matter limitingmembers.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 38 of Fig. 1.

Fig. at is a sectional View on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the mail separating or sub-dividingdevice and one of the limiting members, showing the means for actuatingboth at the same time.

Referring more especially to the drawings, l designates a lettercarriers pigeon hole cabinet as a whole, which consists of the bodycasing 2, which is divided to form the pigeon holes 3, by means of thehorizontal and vertical partitions a and 5. Mounted in bearings of theend walls of the body casing adjacent the forward edge of the horizontalpartition 4 is a shaft 6, the bearings of which are designated by thenumeral 7 some of which are secured to the vertical partitions. Alsomounted in bearings of the end walls of the cabinet and the partitionwalls of the uppermost pigeon holes is a horizontal shaft 8. The shaft 6is provided with a crank 9 at one end, and a gear 10. One end of theshaft 8 has a gear 11.

The shaft 6 is provided with a plurality of series of angular arms 12(which are similar to those in the aforesaid application) designed toassume vertical positions in the forward portions of the uppermostpigeon holes-3, that is, when said arms are used to divide the pigeonholes. There is a series of arms for each pigeon hole. Carried by theshaft 8 is a plurality of rectangular members 13 constructed of heavywire, there being one for the rear of each uppermost pigeon hole. WVhenthe arms 12 are used for sub-dividing the pigeon holes said members 13lie adjacent the bottoms of said pigeon holes, thereby limiting the mailmatter in its insertion in said pigeon holes, particularly when the mailmatter is shorter than the depths of said pigeon holes, so that the arms12 will readily hold the mail matter sub-divided in the several pigeonholes. Mounted in the guide bearings 1% is a slide bar 15, adjacent oneend of the cabinet. The forward end of the bar on its lower edge isprovided with rack teeth 16, which mesh with the teeth of the gear 10.The upper edge of the bar 15 at its rear end is provided'with rack teeth17, which mesh with the teeth of the gear 11, which is larger indiameter than the gear 10, so that when the bar 15 is reciprocated inone direction or the other, the shaft 8 will rotate substantially aquarter revolution to substantially a three quarter revolution of theshaft 6, whereby when the members 13 are oscillated rearwardly to avertical position, the arms 1.2 will be thrown under and adjacent thehorizontal partition 41. By this arrangement of the gears and the rackbar, a partial movement of the bar 15 rearwardly, that is when themembers 12 are assuming vertical positions, will oscillate said members13 slightly forwardly, so that the mail matter is shoved forwardly to begrasped, before the arms 12 reach their vertical positions.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and usefulis:

1. In a sub-dividing device for a row of pigeon holes, the combinationof a cabinet having a row of pigeon holes and a shaft in bearings on thecabinet adjacent the bottoms of the pigeon holes, of a plurality ofseries of arms carried by the shaft one series for each pigeon hole forsub-dividing the mail matter inserted therein, a second shaft mounted inbearings on the cabinet at the rear of the pigeon holes and carrying aplurality of mail limiting members, one for each pigeon hole, and meansgeared to said shafts for rocking said shafts in opposite direc tions,whereby as the arms are thrown down and under the pigeon holes, thelimiting members are thrown upwardly to vertical positions.

2. In a subdividing device fora row of pigeon holes, the combination ofa cabinet having a row of pigeon holes and a shaft in bearings on thecabinet adjacent the bottoms of the pigeon holes, of a plurality ofseries of arms carried by the shaft one series for each pigeon hole forsub-dividing the mail matter inserted therein, a second shaft mounted inbearings on the cabinet at the rear of the pigeon holes and carrying aplurality of mail limiting members, one for each pigeon hole, and meansgeared to said shafts for rocking said shafts in opposite directions,whereby as the arms are thrown down and under the pigeon holes, thelimiting members are thrown upwardly to vertical positions, said gearedmeans comprising gears of different diameters, the gear of largerdiameter on the second shaft, and the gear of smaller diameter on thefirst shaft, guide bearings on one end of the cabinet, and a rackmounted in the guide bearings to mesh with the gears for rocking theshafts simultaneously.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

I/VILLIAM MANN.

Witnesses:

EDWARD J. OBRIEN, CORNELIUS J. DESMOND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

